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The Case Foundation has long believed that doing good and achieving financial return aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s always heartening to see new data that backs that up. Take these stats, for example:
- Bain & Company research published in July 2024 found that the S&P 500 companies creating both the highest value for stakeholders and the highest financial value achieved average shareholder returns of 338% over 10 years — compared to 239% for companies that outperformed on financial value alone.
- The JUST 100 (JUST Capital’s ranking of companies that invest more in workers, pollute less, give back more to communities, create more jobs, and do right by all their stakeholders) has outperformed the Russell 1000 by 44.8% since its launch in 2019.
- Morgan Stanley data shows that sustainable equity funds provided a median return of 16.7% in 2023 — more than two percentage points higher than traditional equity funds.
While we all understand that past performance is no guarantee of future results, this data is an important reminder that companies can succeed by chasing profit and purpose.
Small businesses and startups have the same potential. However, many underrepresented founders need more people to help pave the way with capital and support, as we highlight in the stories below.
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| An Unsung Hero of Women’s Sports |
Women represent 49% of athletes competing in Paris this summer — the closest the Olympics has come to reaching gender parity. It’s a stark contrast to the 1924 Paris Games, when women were denied participation in most events. The efforts of a little-known figure, Alice Milliat, began to change that.
An accomplished sportswoman born in France, Milliat rejected the Olympic organizers’ notion that it was “improper” for women to compete in sports. Since women were excluded from the Olympics, she founded the International Women’s Sports Federation and organized the first Women’s World Games in 1922. Despite the competition’s success, she continued her crusade for inclusion in the Olympics.
Milliat’s advocacy began to bear fruit in 1928 when the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam hosted women’s track and field for the first time. Her activism was overlooked for many years, but she is now gaining more recognition as a trailblazer in women’s sports.
The road to parity has been fraught with many setbacks, and much work remains. Still, the presence of so many talented athletes in Paris this summer would not have been possible without Milliat and the other activists who followed in her footsteps. We applaud her fearless fight for equality. |
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| Investing to Make Housing More Affordable |
| More impact investors see affordable housing as an opportunity to make a positive impact with their capital. Although allocations to housing represented only 6% of impact assets under management in 2022, it is one of the fastest-growing sectors, according to the Global Impact Investing Network. Penta has the story of one investment firm using capital to inject life into underserved communities. |
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Investing in Business Owners in Underserved Communities
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| More than 80% of startups don’t use bank loans or venture capital, but some investors are trying to break down the barriers that make accessing such capital difficult. Momentus Capital’s $171 million impact investing fund provides purpose-driven businesses with non-dilutive capital to grow their businesses in underserved communities. The firm isn’t alone: RUNWAY just launched a fund to invest $50 million in businesses, cooperatives and grassroots organizations building wealth in Black communities. |
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| INCLUSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP |
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Celebrating the Power of Black Cooperatives
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| Black-owned businesses are powerful economic drivers for their communities, generating $206 billion in annual revenue and supporting 3.56 million U.S. jobs. However, accessing capital can be difficult for entrepreneurs of color. In honor of National Black Business Month, Essence is highlighting how Black Americans have fought systemic barriers by forming cooperatives. |
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| Women Angels Supporting Women Founders |
| Women comprised 46.7% of angel investors in 2023, up from 33.6% two years prior. That uptick in female investors may be encouraging more women entrepreneurs to seek high-risk angel capital, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire's Center for Venture Research. Women-led businesses represented 46.3% of organizations seeking angel funding in 2024, up from 28.6% in 2021. |
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Next Generation Changemakers
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| Full of passion and a desire to lead positive change, young people have the potential to transform the world for the better. The Global Shapers Community aims to empower young changemakers with mentorship and support to realize their transformative ideas. The organization’s 2024 Innovation Prize winners show the creative ways today’s young people can shape a better world, from combating deforestation with AI to educating displaced children at pop-up libraries in relief camps. |
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